Chinese EFL Learners’ Auditory and Visual Perception of English Statement and Question Intonations: The Effect of Lexical Stress

English is a stress-timed language, where native speakers rely on acoustic cues such as pitch to perceive word stress and intonation. In contrast, Chinese learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) primarily use pitch as a perceptual cue and are influenced by the interaction between word stress and intonation. However, the specific impact of stress patterns (iambic or trochee) and English proficiency (high or low) on their perception of English intonation remains unclear. Furthermore, the extent to which visual cues affect Chinese EFL learners’ perception of intonation requires further investigation. This study investigated the effects of auditory and visual cues on the perception of English intonation among Chinese EFL learners. Thirty Chinese college students participated in this study. The stimuli were presented in two modalities: audio-only and audio-visual, encompassing both statement and question intonations. Participants rated the degree of question intonation on a scale ranging from 1 to 7, with higher scores indicating a stronger perception of intonation. The results indicate that sentence-final stress patterns have an impact on the perception of intonation, specifically in questions, with a relatively smaller effect observed for trochee. Furthermore, high-proficient Chinese EFL learners demonstrated an advantage in perceiving statement intonation. However, visual cues did not significantly enhance the perception of English intonation, likely due to limited exposure to natural visual cues. These findings contribute to our understanding of how word stress and English proficiency affect intonation perception, providing insights for language instruction and curriculum development.